Marrie Schaefer is a career diplomat and communications expert. She led teams in one of the largest U.S. embassies in the world to harness the power of digital media with traditional media and designed outreach strategies to further U.S. relations with Japan, Malaysia, and Cambodia.

Ms. Schaefer served as U.S. Consul General to Sapporo, Japan. As U.S. Embassy Tokyo Spokesperson, she led a 28-person media relations department and advised Ambassador Caroline Kennedy on media strategy and public diplomacy initiatives. In addition to her policy and public affairs experience, Ms. Schaefer has worked extensively on political-military serving as Foreign Policy Advisor to the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific and Public Diplomacy Advisor at the U.S. Pacific Command, Hawaii.

Ms. Schaefer was responsible for global economic issues in the U.S. State Department’s Office of Japanese Affairs and served as Special Assistant to Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. She was detailed to the Office of Oregon Senator, Ron Wyden as a Congressional Foreign Affairs Fellow. Overseas assignments include Counselor for Public Affairs, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Public Affairs Officer, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Assistant Public Affairs Officer, Antananarivo, Madagascar.

Ms. Schaefer has been accepted to The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy’s Global Master of Arts Program, Tufts University. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Education from Northern Illinois University and a Certificate in Organization Development from Georgetown University. Before joining the Foreign Service, she worked as a cross-cultural consultant in San Diego, California and as Associate Professor of English at Sapporo University. She is on the Board of the Hawaii Opera Theatre and is a member of the Japan- America Society of Hawaii. She speaks Japanese and French, and is an avid cyclist, skier, and hiker.